the devil love rom-coms
by YunoJuno
Summary: Modern AU


At first glance Aogiri Corporation didn't look like it was run by the devil incarnate. It was a high rise building with floor to ceiling glass panels, dark glass lighting up with a vaguely noticeable rainbow pattern when light directly hit it. All sharp edges, sleek and shiny; very modern. If he could reach up from where he stood on the sidewalk, if his hand could stretch out to touch the building it was currently hovering over Seidou knew with an odd certainty that it would be as cold to the touch as metal that had rested overnight in a freezer. As cold as the wind whipping his hair into his face despite the blinding rays of sun.

Carefully stepping over another pile of half melted snow-mush Seidou headed toward the building with a determination in his steps he definitely wasn't feeling. Continuing to glare at the ground as he pushed heavy glass doors open he frowned at the trick. The heavier an object, the more importance humans would subconsciously assign it. He knew that much even if he wasn't on top of his class (he was second. Of-fucking-course he was, like always). It was just like her, he thought, to start spinning the web that was her business empire the moment someone walked in through her door. For it was hers, even if the building technically belonged to the corporation no one could deny her the place that was God of Aogiri. It's the way she talked, how her heels would click against the floor with utmost authority and how she wore just enough perfume to make it linger in the room long after she had left, making sure that her memory stayed fresh in everyone's mind.

The lobby was bright and spacey, photographs displaying the building through the times and documenting the successes of the company. It was all neatly tied together by a chandler in gold, giving it a sense of grandiose with a modern touch. Steeling himself, Seidou walked over to the desk, ringing the bell two times before leaning back on his heels, waiting. It didn't take long for someone to arrive. She had black hair in two pigtails and a neutral expression, was a six or so inches shorter than him. Somehow her professional looking office attire made him feel like she was still the one in charge.

"How can i help you, sir?" she said in what he could clearly recognise as a customer service voice. He replied just like he had practiced in the mirror before, as ridiculous as that sounded. Seidou had feared that if he didn't have a couple of well rehearsed lines he would freeze up when it came to the crucial moment, or let something less than pleasant slip.

"An appointment with Yoshimura Eto," His words were repeated softly by her, followed up by "May I have your name, sir?." She had straightened up a little at the name and Sediou realised that she was taller than he had initially thought albeit still noticeably shorter than him.

"Takizawa Seidou," A stiff silence fell over them as the girl started tapping away at the computer in front of her. She, 'Tomoe' Seidou read on a little note on the desk, seemed unbothered by the lack of conversation but Seidou could feel shirt collar beginning to itch against his skin, palms sweating. He didn't know what to say, but by god was this awkward, and she didn't seem to want a conversation. He fiddled with his coffee cup, clearing his throat and pulling at the hangnail on his left thumb. When she finally looked up from her screen and told him that he was expected in room 415 on floor four he practically ran towards the elevators, trying to ignore the eyes he could feel on his back.

'She thinks I'm crazy. She must think I'm crazy. Fuck, what is wrong with me'

He rounded a corner and was out of sight, slowing down a bit and putting one hand on his chest to exhale deeply and make a face at himself. Really, he liked to think of himself as reasonably outgoing when it came to his friends. But with Eto it was… different. If he was completely honest with himself she scared him- he would never tell her this but he was ninety percent sure she already knew. Knowing he was supposed to spend his entire intern-experience at her company made him twitchy, nervous and irritable. So much so that he wasn't able to pay attention to his surroundings, and when he finally looked up it was already too late.

He crashed into the well-dressed man, dropping his mug getting hot coffee over his hands. It burnt like boiling water- it wasn't nearly that hot but the element of surprise only served to amplify the pain. With a pained yelp Seidou stepped back, cradling his hand and inspecting the damage. On the back of his hand his skin was reddened but it didn't look like he had gotten any serious wounds. He could probably find a breakroom before his meeting with Eto and wash his hands in freezing water and then it would be gone before the afternoon. happy with his assessment of the damage he looked up at the person he had bumped into only to pale.

He had thought that the majority of his drink had been spilled on himself but he had been wrong. A large coffee stain had formed on the- no doubt expensive- jacket of the man in front of him. Letting his eyes travel upward he met a pair of red, narrowed eyes. A surgical mask covered his face from the nose down but Seidou didn't need to see the lower half of his face to know that he was annoyed. He would probably be angry too if someone dumped coffee all over the front of his clothes.

"Sorry." He mumbled, looking at the man with what he hoped was a sufficiently apologetic face.

Apparently it wasn't sufficient, because the man's reply was a dismissive huff that wasn't actually a word yet managed to communicate his feelings with a shocking clearity 'fuck off, you're an annoyance'. Seidou's face quickly turned sour. It was one thing being angry about the coffee, but it was so obviously an accident and he had apologised. What exactly did the man want him to do, go buy him a goddamn suit jacket? He met the other's eyes, made a face and gritted out a "fuck you too," between his teeth before he turned on his heel and made for the stairs. It was probably quicker taking the stairs than waiting for en elevator anyway... or something.

Seidou ran up the first flight of stairs, scaling the stairs two steps at a time with his heart beating wildly in his chest. When he was sure enough distance had been put between him and the man he leaned heavily on the wall, sliding down until he was sitting with his knees pulled up against his chest in the middle of an empty staircases. Leaning his head on his knees he sighed shakily, trying to collect himself.

It didn't take long for his adrenaline rush to die down and the pain in his hand came back, a little duller but it still hurt plenty. He would need to find cold water somewhere, but on the other hand the incident and its disastrous aftermath had already made him later than he had anticipated. Even if he wasn't late, yet, he had no idea how long it would take to find a bathroom or break room. Seidou decided to chance it, breaking off from the staircase into a corridor with doors on both sides. There was a mix of offices and meeting rooms, a few with windows facing the corridors and a couple with glass doors. Some were occupied, others not but he still hadn't found a bathroom.

He passed a petite brunette who smiled at him and he awkwardly nodded back, speeding up his pace as soon as he had passed her. The corridors were confusing, all of them looking eerily similar making it far too easy to get lost in the maze of white, glass and endless rows of doors. After what felt like an eternity of aimless walking Seidou came across two doors marked as bathroom and he wasted no time, practically throwing himself towards the faucet and turning the water temperature to freezing cold.

In a moment clear water was running along his burned hands, soothing them. He stayed lien that for a while, wiggling his fingers in the cool liquid. Even when he pulled back and turned the tap off the feeling remained, water droplets coating his hands. Then he saw what time it was.

Seidou would have loved to feel a little colder after what had happened with the hot drink -but not like this. Now he felt like he had been doused with ice water and an equally cold panic started to rise in his chest. Hurrying wouldn't solve anything, he was still late, but he speedwalked, very nearly running through the corridor and took the stairs two sometimes three at a time. When he arrived at the fourth floor his heart was in his throat, figuratively of course but it really felt like it, beating quick and hard like it was trying to force its way out of his chest. Taking a second to catch his breath wasn't enough but at least his face felt a little less when he hesitantly knocked at the door. It was such a nondescript door, white with a sign on it displaying '415' yet it was surrounded by an ominous aura and a sense of foreboding.

Before his hand could even connect with the wood a soft voice called out from inside "It's unlocked, just come in." Seidou swallowed thickly and pressed down on the handle, letting it swing open to reveal a spacious room. Two walls were entirely made up of glass and the other two an off white. Along one wall delicate flowers had been painted in red and black. A chair in black leather was positioned facing away from him, stationed behind a desk made entirely of glass with legs of steel. Seidou barely had the time to take it all in before the chair was spun around like a villain making their dramatic entries in movies and a head of messy green hair presented itself.

"You're late." Eto observed casually, looking at Seidou with an unreadable expression until he got too nervous in the silence and muttered "...I got into an accident." When she sniggered at his answer he could feel his eye twitch, nails digging into his hand behind his back until the skin was a pinkish red.

"I normally don't take care of these kind of things myself but since I know you I decided to do it. But as you know I'm a very important and busy person so you'll have to work under one of my executives instead. He has almost as horrible of a personality as you, so I feel like it could be fun." She laughed with no concern for the annoyed look on Seidou's face (Horrible personality? If he wasn't literally dependent on her good mood for an internship he would have done more than sneer at the hypocrisy).

"His name is Tatara and his office is on the third floor, fifth room to the left of the stairs, 309." Now knowing where to go, Seidou curtly nodded and turned towards the door, intent on leaving. Just when he had stepped outside, right before the door closed behind him he hear Eto call out "Oh, and get a company name tag from Hakatori in the reception before you leave. It'll give you clearance to most of the building!" Seidou didn't respond but he made a mental note to set an alarm reminding him of it later.

At least Tatara's office was on the third floor and not the fourth, decreasing the chances of running into Eto during work hours. Small blessings, right? Just from their small interaction right now she didn't seem as horrible and dangerous as Seidou would paint her to be for anyone willing to listen but she really was. She had the uncanny ability to always know anything that was going on, and was not too kind to exploit the information for her own amusement and gain, regardless of others suffering for it.

When they were younger she used to pester him to buy her snacks, then grab his hand and run until they were far away enough to reveal everything she stole while he was occupying the cashier- then she called him her partner in crime and convinced him that the police were coming for them effectively making him unable to sleep. Another time they were climbing trees and she randomly pushed him, later revealing that it was because she wanted to know if a human could survive the fall. Seidou ended up twisting his ankle and crying his eyes out- not an uncommon theme throughout all of his childhood memories starring Eto.

In another universe Seidou was convinced she would have been a fearsome boss of an underground criminal organisation. Or she'd settle for being an author, in which case she would end up bestselling. Eto was a bit unhinged but she was good at everything she did, extremely so. In fact, maybe she'd be a wanted criminal and a best selling author at the same time. If anyone could manage a taxing double life like that it'd be her. She'd probably chose some ridiculous moniker for herself too- his thoughts drifted to the various black and white bird pictures placed on her desk. Yeah, I'm another universe Eto was a infamous criminal named Owl and also a best selling author and because he doubted he'll ever be able to avoid her regardless of which universe they were in she would have kidnapped him and forced him to work for her evil organisation.

It sounded ridiculous phrased like that, so Seidou shook his head to get rid his overactive imagination and knocked on the door to room 309. A smooth voice called from behind the door "it's open." The voice sounded somewhat familiar but Seidou couldn't place it. It was a nice voice, and it made him think that maybe it wouldn't be too bad because he wasn't working directly with the devil-lady. His thoughts quickly died when he opened the door.

The first thing she noticed about Tatara was his white hair. The next was his black surgical mask, and after that his white dress shirt and how his eyebrows had the same colour as his hair when they froze in a surprised expression. His suit jacket hung on a hook by the door and without looking at it for longer than a millisecond Seidou knew he wasn't wearing it because there was a large coffee stain covering it.

"Eh… hello."

Tatara looked at him quietly until Seidou got over his shock and it turned into nervousness. Then he carefully and slowly put the pen he had been holding down on his desk, it clinked against the glass and finally broke the silence.

"Nice to meet you… again." Tatara said, nothing in his tone indicating that it was 'nice' at all. "I assume you're the intern Eto told me about."

"Unless there are another intern running around lost and confused I suppose I am." Seidou said, then covered his mouth with a hand. Clearing his throat he tried again. "Yes. Yes, I am." Not reacting to the sarcastic answer Tatara dismissively waved him toward a desk in the corner. It was black, made of wood that wasn't immediately recognizable to Seidou. Biting his cheek to keep his expression in check he pulled out the chair and sat down.

They sat in silence for what felt like a small eternity. Seidou wasn't even entirely sure what he was supposed to be doing, simply half heartedly reading through emails and wondering how mad Tatara would be if he asked for some guidance. The more time that passed the angrier he would be considering Seidou had -most likely- done a horrible job overall. Tomorrow he'd ask, when he felt like things might have calmed down. Right now the air between them was tense, to the point where Seidou couldn't concentrate. He glanced over the computer screen only to meet Tatara's eyes head-on and dive back. The man said something he couldn't head.

"...What?"

"I said. why don't you get me a coffee? And this time don't spill it on the way back." Seidou's chair was pushed back as he stood up with a little too much force. He pulled at the handle, forgetting to push it down at first then trying again with ears red from embarrassment and anger. He could imagine Tatara looking at him from behind his desk, thinking about how annoying he was but he didn't look back. Seidou was trying to be nice, damn it. Why else would he even get up to go fetch mr. stoic-mc-fuckface a drink? As he closed the door he quietly muttered "idiot."

"Fool," was all he heard before they were once again separated by the door and he was speed walking, cheeks flushed in embarrassment. Tatara really hadn't been meant to hear that. Though he was walking quickly, it didn't help him since he had no idea where he was going. Oh, another thing he forgot to ask Tatara. Great.

"You!" Seidou shouted as soon he saw someone. The guy stopped, pointing one finger at himself as if asking 'me?' He had blue black hair- a little too blue to look natural so Seidou was going to guess it was dyed- and a nasty glare.

"Yes, you. Where is a coffee machine around here?" Scoffing, the guy pointed down the hallway in the direction he had been coming from "second right," he muttered, then rushed off. Seidou raised an eyebrow at the standoffish attitude then shrugged and started to walk again, this time following the directions he had been given. It didn't matter if they were horrible people he wouldn't be stuck here too long… and then the realisation that these weeks were going to feel like an eternity dawned on him and all of his spite deflated like a balloon that had been carelessly thrown into a rose bush and punctured with thorns.

That's why his expression was blank when he returned to Tatara's office with a coffee. Black, because the man hadn't specified anything and if he was dissatisfied it certainly wasn't Seidou's fault. Tatara didn't seem too dissatisfied when a red mug was placed before him but it was hard to tell because he wore a surgical mask and a flat expression. His eyes just studied Seidou as the brunette stood there a little too awkward to return to his desk before he was dismissed.

"If you wanted something else you should've said so." Seidou finally said to break the silence.

"No, black is fine. I prefer it like this." With a less flat voice that was nonetheless impossible for Seidou to read he added "you didn't get yourself any?"

"Uhm, no." It was accompanied by a shrug of his shoulder. Why was he asking that? Was it even a question?

"I figured you liked coffee, considering you seemed so fond of running around with a cup earlier today." Ah, there it was.

"I'll go back to work now if you don't mind, boss." The word that was normally used to express respect was dripping with acid.

"Go ahead. If you know what to do that is."

"I know." He spat out between gritted teeth despite not knowing at all. With scrunched eyebrows he started at the screen, looking very concentrated like he was doing something important. Half an hour later glaring holes at the laptop got old- actually it got old really fast but thirty minutes was the duration of his pride- and he admitted to Tatara that he actually didn't know what he was supposed to do.

"-and can you believe it?! He didn't even say something! Just looked at me like I was an idiot!" Seidou gestured violently and inexplicably,ranting loudly. It was much later and after a horrible and horribly exhausting first day of work he was back in the flat shared between him and a few other students.

"I mean you kinda are." Juuzou said, plopping another sour candy into his mouth. It was green and blue and pink and looked entirely unfit for human consumption and Seidou hoped that Juuzou choked on it.

"Shut up, you're the idiot here! Who of us has practically a lifetime of detention from assaulting a security guard?" A light grey decorative pillow was thrown at Juuzou who swiftly dodged. It hit the ground and no one made a move to retrieve it, so it just laid there kind of like a dead fish.

"Juuzou is right," Akira's soft but firm voice carried over from the kitchen.

"What do you mean by that?!" Seidou got no answer, so he continued sullenly "never mind, you guys are horrible friends."


End file.
